THE Perikatan Nasional government should enact laws that allows political parties to contest seats to stop party-hopping and prevent corruption among MPs, said former Barisan Nasional minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.

“This will not just prevent parties from crumbling but it will stop corruption as it is now ‘harvest season’ for a lawmaker,” said Nazri during the debate on the motion of thanks for the Royal Address in Dewan Rakyat today.

“The current situation is 111 vs 109, and just two or three MPs can ‘harvest’ and make a lot of money. This situation opens things up for corruption.

“But if we were to contest on party logos, we can’t sell ourselves,” said the Padang Rengas MP.

Nazri, a former Parliament and Tourism Minister, however, was against any outright ban on switching parties as it was against the freedom of association under the Federal Constitution.

“What the government should do is to amend the law for elections based on party list.

“Under the party list system, I will not contest Padang Rengas as an individual but the party would contest it as BN. And after the party has won the seat it can decide who the MP is.

“Hence, if I decide to quit BN later, I will leave without taking the seat as it belongs to the party. The party can appoint someone else to be its MP,” said Nazri.

Nazri was responding to Ngeh Koo Ham (Beruas-PH) who reacted when the former said PN was a “government of the people” when it was only formed after the defection of Mohamed Azmin Ali’s faction of 10 MPs and the withdrawal of Bersatu from Pakatan Harapan in February.

Backing Nazri’s call, Mohamed Sabu (Kota Raja-PH) added: “PN is a government made up of defectors and not a government of the people.” – July 22, 2020.